It is known to provide visual displays made up of an array of pixels, with each pixel being created by a light source such as an LED or the end face of an optical fibre. Such visual displays can be used for informational signage, advertising, relaying TV pictures, art installations and so on. However, such displays suffer from a number of disadvantages. The angle at which the screen can be viewed and the distance from which it can be viewed in order to see a reasonably coherent and legible image are relatively limited. The optical performance and legibility even when viewed within the preferred ranges is not particularly great since the image tends to appear as dots of colour on a black background. The visual displays require additional modification, at great expense, in order to make them weatherproof for use outdoors and such systems have limited loadbearing capacities and cannot be used as structural members.
It is also known to use an array of CRT, plasma or LCD screens covered by thick glass sheets produce a large display. However, the size is still limited and the overall image produced is disrupted by the relatively thick edges to the individual TV screens.